Black Hills NF & Neb NF&G- Tree Planting

The U.S. Forest Service, Department of Agriculture, Region 2 Rocky Mountain Region, is seeking vendors to provide tree planting and reforestation services for the Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota and Nebraska National Forest in Nebraska. This is a sources sought notice intended to identify qualified small disadvantaged socio-economic vendors; it is not a formal request for quotation and does not constitute a commitment to award a contract. The contractor must provide all necessary equipment, supplies, labor, transportation, water, and supervision to complete tree planting, install seedling protectors, and perform vegetation grubbing around planted seedlings. Quality evaluation will be performance-based, with work achieving 90% or greater quality receiving full payment at the contract unit price, work between 80-89% quality receiving 80% of the contract price, and work below 80% quality deemed unacceptable and ineligible for payment. Interested vendors must submit responses by Friday, January 30, 2026, at 5:00 PM Eastern Time to Curtis Landreth at curtis.r.landreth@usda.gov, including vendor name, UEI, socio-economic status, point of contact information, and a capability statement.

This opportunity is set aside exclusively for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB), though vendors with other small disadvantaged designations such as HUBZone or Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Businesses (EDWOSB) are also encouraged to respond. No incumbent contractor is identified in this sources sought notice. Tree seedlings are expected to arrive in March 2026, with work required to commence within three days of the Notice to Proceed and be completed by May 2026. The scope includes planting seedlings on designated units, installing Vexar tubing protectors on approximately 75,000 trees at Black Hills National Forest only, and grubbing vegetation around up to 80 acres of planted seedlings. Payment will be calculated on a per-tree basis using box counts from the nursery to determine trees per acre, with penalties assessed for wasted trees at $0.40 per tree for random waste and $5.00 per tree for intentionally ditched or wasted trees.